JP2001296376A - Timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a timepiece which sends a specific message to a person who views the timepiece through time display using pointers and enhances enjoyment and interest of the person. SOLUTION: The timepiece 1 has the points S, a driving body which drives the pointers S, and a control unit which controls the driving of the driver. The control unit controls the driver so that one of the pointers performs irregular pointer movement including one or plural kinds of k/n (k>=1, n>1, k≠n)- second timing pointer movement in previously set cycles. The irregular pointer movement may include 1-second timing pointer movement, and the irregular pointer movement may be in a pointer movement style for sending a specific message.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an analog timepiece having a pointer, a driving unit for driving the pointer, and a control unit for controlling the driving of the driving unit. The present invention relates to a timepiece in which a predetermined message can be transmitted to a user and fun or fun can be given to a person who watches the timepiece by moving the hands irregularly.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some digital timepieces using a liquid crystal display or the like display characters on a time display, or display moving images of popular characters and cartoons to provide a predetermined time to a person who watches the timepiece. There are many things on the market that can convey a message or give a watch watcher enjoyment or fun. And such an additional function is often one of the motives when purchasing a watch.

On the other hand, in the case of an analog type timepiece that displays the time using hands, irregularities such as two-second hand movement and four-second hand movement in an emergency such as when the electromotive force of the solar cell decreases or when the voltage of the battery decreases. It is well known that the user is encouraged to charge or replace the battery by a typical hand movement. In addition, there is also known an indicator or dial that is formed in the shape of a popular character, for example, so that the hands and feet of the popular character indicate the time, thereby giving the viewer enjoyment and fun.

[0004] However, in a normal non-emergency operation, a device which transmits a predetermined message to a person who watches the clock directly from the display of the time by the hands or conveys some fun or enjoyment is not yet available. It has not yet been marketed. Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a growing tendency for users of watches to be individualized. By having a different watch from others, it is possible to emphasize the individuality of the user and to satisfy the playfulness. Watches are in great demand.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems. In an analog type timepiece having a hand, a predetermined message is transmitted to a person who watches the timepiece through a time display by the hand, It is an object of the present invention to provide a timepiece that can make a watcher feel fun and interesting, and that can emphasize the individuality of the user and satisfy the playfulness.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a pointer, a driving unit for driving the pointer, and a control unit for controlling the driving of the driving unit are provided. In a timepiece having one or more of the following, during normal operation, one of the hands indicates one or more types of k / n (k
.Gtoreq.1, n> 1, k.noteq.n) The driving body is controlled such that irregular hand movement including timing hand movement is performed at a preset cycle. According to this configuration, during normal operation in which the electromotive force of the solar cell, the charging voltage of the battery, and the like are normal and there is no need to make the pointer move irregularly, the pointer is intentionally moved irregularly, which is interesting. You can get an analog clock.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the pointer is a second hand, and the irregular movement includes a one-second timing movement. According to this configuration, it is possible to perform irregular hand movement in which normal 1-second timing movement and 1 / 2-second timing movement and 1 / 3-second timing movement are combined.

[0008] The invention according to claim 3 is configured such that the irregular hand movement has a hand movement form expressing a predetermined meaning. With this configuration, for example, by associating the timing and amount of taking the medicine, it is possible to convey these messages to the user who has watched the watch. For example, as described in claim 4, a 1-second timing movement, a 1-second timing movement, in a 5-second cycle,
Combine 0.5 second timing movement, 0.5 second timing movement and 2 second timing movement to configure 1, 1 and 3 movement modes and use messages such as "Heal once in three days" It is also possible to tell others.

The invention according to a fifth aspect is characterized in that the hand movement mode between the normal hand movement mode only and the hand movement mode including the irregular hand movement is performed.
The hand operation can be switched. According to this configuration, the movement of the hands can be changed to the normal movement in the normal time display or the irregular movement including the k / n second timing movement according to the user's preference.

The switching between the hand operation mode including only the normal hand operation and the hand operation mode including the irregular hand operation is performed by, for example, the first circuit for moving the hands in the hand operation mode including the irregular hand operation as described in claim 6. And a second circuit for moving the hands in the hand movement mode of only the normal hand movement, and a switching means for switching a circuit between the first circuit and the second circuit. This can be realized by switching the hand operation mode by switching.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a memory for storing at least one or a plurality of types of hand movement modes including the irregular hand movement, and the control unit stores one of the hand movement modes from the memory. And controlling the driving of the driving unit in accordance with the read hand movement mode. In this case, the memory may store only a hand movement mode including one or more types of irregular hand movements, or may additionally store a hand movement mode including only normal hand movements.

[0012] The invention described in claim 8 is configured to provide a sound generating means for generating at least one or more kinds of sounds synchronized with the irregular hand movement. According to this configuration, it is possible to enjoy a sound, a melody, an onomatopoeia, and the like that match the movement timing of the irregular hand movement, and to impress a user with a predetermined message using a rhythmical sound, a melody, or the like as a medium. Will be able to tell.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
5A is a timing chart for explaining the movement of the hands of the timepiece according to the embodiment, wherein FIG. 5A shows the time (s), FIG. 5B shows the timing of the normal hand movement, and FIG. Shows the relationship between the hand movement timing and the display scale of the clock indicated by the hands at the time of this irregular hand movement. FIG. 2 is a quadrant diagram of an actual timepiece showing the relationship between the timing of the irregular hand movement of FIG. 1C and the display scale of the timepiece indicated by the hands, and FIG. It is a block diagram of a control part of a timepiece concerning one embodiment.

In the following description, it is assumed that the timepiece 1 is in a normal operating state in which the electromotive force of the solar cell, the charging voltage of the battery, and the like are normal and the hands do not need to be operated irregularly.
The second hand S is assumed to be a pointer that performs an irregular movement (such a movement of the pointer is referred to as an irregular movement). In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a one-second timing movement, a one-second timing movement, 0.5
Second timing hand movement (1/2 second timing movement), 0.5
The second timing movement and the 2 second timing movement (4/2 second timing movement) are combined in this order to form a set of irregular movements.

Here, "timing" refers to the temporal timing until the second hand advances by one minute on the display scale 2 of the timepiece 1. For example, "1 second timing movement" means the time from the immediately preceding hand movement to the timepiece movement. A hand movement in which the time required to advance the display scale 2 of 1 by one minute is 1 second is referred to as “0.5-second timing movement”.
It is a hand movement in which the time from the immediately preceding hand movement to advance the display scale 2 of the clock 1 by one minute is 0.5 seconds. 1 (c) and 2
As shown in the figure, in the section a, when the actual time is 59 seconds, the second hand S is at a position of 60 seconds which is 1 second ahead of this,
At this position, until the actual time passes the second hand S for one second,
Wait for 2 seconds. When the actual time reaches one second, the second hand S is moved by one display scale, that is, by one second of the normal hand movement.

In the sections b and c where the one-second timing hand movement is performed, the actual progress of the time coincides with the movement of the second hand S. In the sections d and e where the 0.5-second timing movement is performed, when the actual time reaches 4 seconds, the second hand S has reached the position of the display scale 2 at 5 seconds. That is, in the section e, the second hand S is located at a position one second ahead of the actual time. Therefore, similarly to the section a described above, at this position, the second hand S is made to wait for two seconds until the actual time passes the second hand S by one second, and the actual time is set at the second hand S.
Is overtaken by 1 second, that is, when the actual time reaches 6 seconds, the second hand S is moved from the position of 5 seconds on the display scale 2 by 6 seconds.
Advance to the second position. Thereafter, the second hand S repeats the movement of the sections a to e. In the timepiece 1 of this embodiment, since the cycle of the irregular hand movement is 5 seconds, the irregular hand movement is repeated 12 times while the second hand S makes one turn (60 seconds).

In this irregular hand movement, the first two seconds of a five-second cycle are set to one second intervals, and the remaining three seconds are set to an interval obtained by combining 0.5 seconds and two seconds, so that “1, 1 , 3 "
Step is expressed. This "1,1,
The step of "3" can include a catchphrase for promoting the efficacy of the medicine, such as "If you drink once a day, it will be cured in three days". In particular, by displaying the name of the medicine, the name of the manufacturer, the steps of “1, 1, 3” and the catch phrase on the exterior of the watch 1, the second hand S of the watch 1 is displayed.
These can be communicated with a certain impact to the user who saw the movement.

Of course, the message that can be conveyed to the user in the form of the second hand S is not limited to the above-mentioned catchphrase. For example, a message about the usage and dosage of the medicine, such as “one time, once, three tablets”, may be used. It is also possible to tell the user. Further, in addition to the above-mentioned message having some meaning, for example, a certain rhythm such as 337 beats can be transmitted to the user. In this way, by including various messages in the irregular movement of the second hand S, it is possible to easily recall a predetermined message that is easy to forget only with characters from the irregular movement of the second hand S of the timepiece 1. In addition to the expectation, by displaying the above-mentioned rhythm and the like with the irregular movement of the second hand S, it is possible to convey the enjoyment and fun to the person who watches the timepiece 1.

The driving of the hands of the timepiece 1 is controlled by a control unit shown in FIG. The control unit includes an oscillation circuit 5 for oscillating a reference signal, and a frequency dividing circuit 6 for dividing the frequency of the reference signal.
A waveform shaping circuit 7 for generating a driving pulse for driving a stepping motor M for moving the second hand S, and a motor driving circuit 8 for driving the stepping motor M to move the second hand S at a timing according to the driving pulse. Have. The circuit of the waveform shaping circuit 7 is changed to the above-mentioned “1,1,3”
By generating a drive pulse for moving the second hand in the step, the second hand S can be moved in an irregular manner. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a sound generation circuit 9 is provided so as to be connected to the waveform shaping circuit 7, and is tuned to the pulse output from the waveform shaping circuit 7, for example, to the aforementioned "1,1,3".
And a sound signal such as a rhythmic sound, a melody, or an onomatopoeia according to the step of 337 beats is generated by the sound generation circuit 9,
This may be output as a sound from the speaker 10 provided in the watch. In this way, by expressing a predetermined message with a rhythmic sound or a sound such as a melody, the message can be more impressively transmitted to the user.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of a control unit of a timepiece according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a hand operation mode including only normal hand operation and a hand operation mode including irregular hand operation can be arbitrarily switched by operating a switch.

As shown in FIG. 4, the reference signal oscillated by the oscillating circuit 11 is frequency-divided by the frequency dividing circuit 12 to generate a drive pulse for driving a stepping motor M for moving the second hand S. 13 and the waveform shaping circuit 14. In this embodiment, the waveform shaping circuit 13
A drive pulse for moving the second hand is generated by the one-second timing movement, which is a normal hand movement, and the waveform shaping circuit 14 generates, for example, the first hand.
In the steps of "1, 1, 3" of the embodiment, a drive pulse for the irregular hand movement for moving the second hand is generated.

The driving pulses generated by the waveform shaping circuits 13 and 14 are input to a selection circuit 15, and this selection circuit 15
Thus, one of the drive pulse generated by the waveform shaping circuit 13 and the drive pulse generated by the waveform shaping circuit 14 is selected. The selected drive pulse is transmitted to the motor drive circuit 17, and the motor drive circuit 17 drives the stepping motor M to move the second hand S at a timing according to the drive pulse.

The selection of the drive pulse by the selection circuit 15 is performed by operating a switch 16 provided on the exterior of the timepiece 1. For example, the contact 16a of the switch 16
Is not in contact with the terminal 16b.
Transmits the drive pulse generated by the waveform shaping circuit 13 to the motor drive circuit 17. Thus, the stepping motor M moves the second hand S with the normal one-second timing movement. When the switch 16 is operated to bring the contact 16 a into contact with the terminal 16 b, the selection circuit 15 sends the drive pulse generated by the waveform shaping circuit 14 to the motor drive circuit 17. Thereby, the stepping motor M moves the second hand S with the irregular hand movement. In this embodiment, the selection circuit 15 and the switch 16 constitute switching means for switching the hand operation mode of the second hand S. Also in this embodiment, the selection circuit 15
By providing a sound generation circuit 9 similar to that of the previous embodiment, a sound such as a rhythmic sound, a melody, or an onomatopoeic sound synchronized with the pulse output from the selection circuit 15 can be output from the speaker 10.
Can be output. In this embodiment, since the selection circuit 15 can switch the hand operation mode between the hand operation mode including only the normal hand operation and the hand operation mode including the irregular hand operation, it is possible to output a sound in both of these hand operation modes. It is.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the movement of the hands of the timepiece according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
(A) shows the time (s), (b) shows the timing of the hand movement at the time of the normal hand operation, (c) shows the timing of the hand movement at the time of the irregular hand movement generated by the waveform generation circuit 14, and (d) shows the operation of the switch. (E) shows the timing of hand movement before and after the switching. Also, FIG.
FIG. 4 is a quadrant diagram of a timepiece showing an actual movement of the hands according to the hand movement timing.

The waveform shaping circuit 13 generates a drive pulse for performing normal hand movement in accordance with the hand movement timing shown in FIG. Further, the waveform shaping circuit 14 generates a drive pulse for performing the irregular hand movement according to the hand movement timing shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 5D and 6, for example, when the switch 16 is operated between the time 5 seconds and the time 6 seconds, the mode of the hand operation includes the irregular hand operation from the hand operation mode of only the normal operation immediately after the switch. The mode switches to the hand operation mode. By operating the switch 16, the hand movement mode including the irregular hand movement can be switched to the hand movement mode of only the normal hand movement. By providing a plurality of waveform shaping circuits 14 for generating drive pulses for the irregular hand movement, it becomes possible to execute various irregular hand movements.

Instead of providing the waveform shaping circuit 14, a memory for storing one or a plurality of hand movement modes including irregular hand movements is provided, and an arbitrary hand movement is selected from the hand movements stored in this memory by the selection circuit 15. You may make it selectable. By doing so, it is possible to execute more irregular hand movements. In this case, the waveform shaping circuit 1
Instead of providing 3, the hand movement mode of only normal hand movement may be stored in the memory. Further, instead of providing the sound generation circuit 9, a memory may be provided, and one or more kinds of sounds may be stored in this memory in combination with the hand movement mode. Then, the selection circuit 15 may read out a predetermined combination of the hand movement mode and the sound from the memory.

Further, by automatically operating the switch 16, it is possible to switch from the normal hand operation mode to the hand operation mode including the irregular hand operation at a preset time. This way, for example,
When the irregular hand movement informs the user of the usage and dosage of the medicine as a message, the movement of the second hand S is switched from the normal hand movement mode to the hand movement mode including the irregular hand movement to draw the user's attention. Then, the user can be notified of the arrival time of the medicine and the dose of the medicine.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the timepiece of the present invention may be any of a wristwatch, a table clock, a pocket watch, a wall clock, and the like as long as it is an analog timepiece having hands. In addition, although the hand is described as the second hand S, it is also possible to perform the irregular hand movement using a hand other than the second hand, for example, a predetermined function hand.

[0029]

According to the present invention, it is possible to convey a predetermined message to the user through the irregular movement of the pointer, and to give the user pleasure and fun by the irregular movement of the pointer. Become. In addition, by generating sounds such as rhythmic voices, messages, and onomatopoeia in response to the movement of the hands, not only can the fun and fun be further increased, but by using such sounds as a medium, Message can be more impressively conveyed to the user. In addition, having such a watch can emphasize the individuality of the user and satisfy the user's playfulness.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a timing chart for explaining the movement of a hand of a timepiece according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) shows time (s), (b) shows timing of hand movement during normal hand movement,
(C) shows the relationship between the timing of hand movement at the time of irregular hand movement according to the present invention and the display scale of the clock indicated by the hands at the time of this irregular hand movement.

FIG. 2 is a quadrant diagram of a real timepiece showing the relationship between the timing of irregular hand movement in FIG. 1C and the display scale of the timepiece indicated by the hands.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit of the timepiece according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of a control unit of a timepiece according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

5A and 5B are timing charts for explaining movement of the hands of a timepiece according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 5A shows time (s), FIG. 5B shows timing of hand movement during normal hand movement,
(C) shows the timing of hand movement at the time of irregular hand movement generated by the waveform generation circuit 14, (d) shows the timing of switching by operating a switch, and (e) shows the timing of hand movement before and after the switching.

FIG. 6 is a quadrant diagram of a timepiece showing an actual movement of the hands according to the hand movement timing of FIG. 5 (e).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Watch 5, 11 Oscillation circuit 6, 12 Divider circuit 7 Waveform shaping circuit 13 Waveform shaping circuit (first circuit) 14 Waveform shaping circuit (second circuit) 15 Selection circuit 16 Switch 8, 17 Motor drive circuit 9 Sound Generation circuit 10 Speaker M Stepping motor (drive body) S Second hand

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F001 AA00 AE03 AF00 AH03 2F082 AA00 BB00 CC01 CC06 DD10 FF01

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A timepiece having a pointer, a driving body for driving the pointer, and a control unit for controlling the driving of the driving body, wherein the control unit operates such that, during normal operation, one of the hands becomes one of The driving body is controlled so that one or more kinds of irregular hand movements including k / n (k ≧ 1, n> 1, k ≠ n) second hand movements are performed at a preset cycle. clock. 2. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the hands are second hands, and the irregular hands include one-second timing hands. 3. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the irregular hand movement has a hand movement form expressing predetermined meaning content. 4. The irregular hand movement is a combination of 1 second timing movement, 1 second timing movement, 0.5 second timing movement, 0.5 second timing movement and 2 second timing movement in a cycle of 5 seconds. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein
Or the watch according to 3. 5. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the hand operation can be switched between a hand operation mode including only normal hand operation and a hand operation mode including the irregular hand operation. 6. A first circuit for moving the hands in the hand operation mode including the irregular hand operation, a second circuit for moving the hands in the hand operation mode for only the normal hand operation, the first circuit and the second circuit. 6. A timepiece according to claim 5, further comprising switching means for switching a circuit between the hand driving mode and the hand driving mode. 7. A memory for storing at least one or a plurality of hand movement modes including the irregular hand movement, wherein the control unit reads one of the hand movement modes from the memory and sets the read hand movement mode to the read hand movement mode. The timepiece according to claim 5, wherein the driving of the driving unit is controlled. 8. The timepiece according to claim 1, further comprising a sound generating means for generating at least one or more kinds of sounds synchronized with the irregular hand movement.